RICHARDSON, Texas (April 11, 2002) - Two Creative Problem Solving (CPS)
teams from The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) finished in first place
last weekend in a statewide competition in Houston put on by the Texas
Creative Problem Solving Organization (TXCPSO).

The annual competition, which is designed to teach life skills and
imagination-expanding exercises through team-based, problem solving
activities, included teams from the elementary through university level
from across the state.

UTD’s two teams, made up of six and seven students each, rallied to win
against six collegiate teams from five schools, including Eastfield
College, Sul Ross State University, Texas Tech University, Texas A&M
University and The University of Texas at Austin. The teams had been
preparing for the event since last fall.

One team competed in the “It’s Your Move” category, which involved
creating an organized game and a vehicle that served as a game piece.
According to Lana Sooter, team manager and assistant to the dean of
undergraduate education at UTD, the problem was one of the most
complicated at the competition and the UTD team was the only collegiate
team to select the challenge.

The other UTD team competed in the “Art of Improv” category, which
required research in various areas, including art objects and exploration.
For this problem, students were randomly presented with a subject they
researched and given 30 minutes to create a skit to convey the topic. U.T.
Austin and Texas Tech placed second and third, respectively, in this
category. Notably, UTD’s “Art of Improv” team was made up entirely of
freshmen, over half of whom had never competed in a CPS competition, much
less against veteran teams.

Students from both groups also were required to participate in an
instant challenge in which they were given three-to-five minutes to solve
a mystery problem for which they had not prepared.

All teams chose topics from five categories, including StranDID, On
Holiday, It’s Your Move, Art of Improv and Dual DI-lemma.

“I am proud to support such an enthusiastic and ambitious group of
students,” Sooter said. “UTD has sponsored a creative problem solving team
since 1997, and each year the students prepare themselves above and beyond
to prove they can solve any dilemma.”

One UTD team member, Nick Cowling, also helped coach Richardson’s
Brentfield Elementary School. That team was the only one from the Dal-Rich
region to advance to the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals tournament
to be held in May.

At the conclusion of the competition, which was held April 5-7, a
senior from Garland High School, Megan Malone, was awarded a full
scholarship to UTD based on her participation in CPS activities during all
four years of high school. Megan plans to major in pre-med at UTD. The
scholarship, which was donated by UTD, was awarded by TXCPSO.

The wins in Houston mean that the two UTD teams will advance to the
Destination ImagiNation Global Finals to be held in Knoxville, Tenn., May
22-26, where they will compete against 20 other collegiate teams.

The UTD team plans to showcase its two wins with an encore performance
on campus later this month.

UTD has competed in regional, state and world competitions yearly since
1997. In 2001, UTD fielded one CPS team that placed second at Destination
ImagiNation’s Global Finals Tournament.

UTD has no football team, but the university consistently shines in
games of the mind. For the second year in a row, UTD’s chess team won the
President’s Cup at the “Final Four” chess championship in April, and the
debate team is ranked among the best college teams in the country.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of
Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major
multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor ,
enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students. The
school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas
state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a
broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For
additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s Web site
at www.utdallas.edu.